


Gestalt

by horse



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: !!!!!!spoilers!!!!!!, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 02:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16296416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/horse/pseuds/horse
Summary: Hisoka says good-bye, the only way he knows how.





	Gestalt

**Author's Note:**

> Slight spoilers if you haven't caught up with the manga! Nothing game changing, but just be aware. If you haven't caught up, though, you really should. ♣

The clock chimes 12, and wouldn’t you know it, the mouse becomes king.

Some rejoice, but others are quiet, knowing that penance is due. And in the shadows, always just out of reach, there is a cat who works at whimsy, deciding what is more delicious - the story, or the mouse.

Chrollo sleeps on his side, curled ever so slightly, and it’s the funniest thing. Hisoka has the mind to drag thumb to mouth, just for a giggle, but he remains sat at the window of the hotel room instead, looking out again.

Years keep passing by, and the world spins like a top on fire. All this Dark Continent speculation has made him rather hungry, and he can’t place exactly what for - it leaves him awash with an agitation he hasn’t felt for a long time. Like that time.

Just why _had_ he covered Moritonio’s face?

He brings a hand to his mouth. He isn’t the type to dwell, never has been - but something has been distracting him from the zodiac. Bigger things at play. Even he has to turn his head, just a little, to watch the shadow puppets on the wall. Big ones.

Chrollo stirs in his sleep, and Hisoka’s eyes move by themselves to catch the shift. There is some sour feeling in him, unfamiliar, when he sees Chrollo’s sleeping face.

Like this, Chrollo is… cute. Hair messy, cheek pressed into a pillow - one hand under it, probably holding a knife. Old habits die hard, as they say. Hisoka finds himself slipping off the sill to loom over his unconscious figure, arms crossed. If the other is awake, feigning sleep, he at least knows that Hisoka isn’t here to kill him. After all, that’d be so… boring.

The slope of his nose, the line of his jaw… they’re both still young, aren’t they? Chrollo looks it more than Hisoka - especially when his eyes are closed like this, eyebrows even more relaxed than usual. If he’s pretending, he’s doing a real good job.

But no, Hisoka thinks - no one can pretend that much innocence into their face. He really is sleeping. The clown pops his gum, and Chrollo’s eyes snap open, flicker to him.

“Oh.” He says dryly, lids lowering, like someone who hears a crash and finds out it’s just the cat being stupid.

“At least look more surprised. Disgusted. Anything. ♣”

Chrollo keeps staring, as if thinking, and Hisoka can tell he’s groggy. Ah, cute… cute. He wonders what life would’ve been like had they run into each other at an earlier time… maybe Chrollo would be dead. Maybe he wouldn’t have had the foresight to let him blossom before squashing an eager bud like an insect. At that age, Hisoka had lacked a lot more than foresight.

“Machi's outside. And...” He blinks, looking even more tired. “Well, I guess you’re not here for that.”

“Not this time, no. ♢” Hisoka crouches down, elbows on his knees, fingers covering his mouth before he shifts them to speak. “I was just thinking about what might have been.”

Chrollo’s expression almost softens at the tone. Hisoka doesn’t know himself why he sounds so grounded in lieu of the much more expected jaunty ridiculousness. The reaction makes him uncomfortable in a way that he hopes he never feels again.

“You would’ve been at least a thousand times more annoying about wanting me dead.” The dark-haired man says flatly, and it makes Hisoka laugh - because great minds think alike, or so they say and whatnot.

“I’ve toned down in my old age, it seems. ♥” He waits a moment, shifts again so his arms cross. “If you follow, this time, you really won’t come back.”

Is this sadness? He’s not sure. He knows Chrollo wants him dead… the idea of a rematch isn’t upsetting or far out of bounds. Maybe he’s moved on in some respect, accepting Chrollo may be a mouthful too big to swallow (♠!) … maybe this is listlessness. 

Chrollo seems to understand that this is not an outward threat, but rather, a fact that Hisoka has convinced himself of; a fate that wasn’t entirely up to him, in the long run. Or perhaps that it could be, in some part… but in essence, he might have resigned himself to the same actuality. Hisoka wouldn’t be the type to care, really, as long as he goes out in style - though Chrollo also knows that Hisoka is closer to self-preserving than suicidal on a sliding scale.

“You already know we feel the same way about death, Hisoka.” Chrollo confirms, and Hisoka smiles in turn, watching the man pull covers up to his chin. “You can fuck off now.”

“I guess that’d be wise.” Hisoka replies grimly, and Chrollo thinks it’s the first time he’s had a conversation this close to serious with him. “See you around, Boss. Too bad about everything, huh? ♡”

Hisoka slips out without waiting for a response, naturally.

It turns out that in the end, it was never up to the cat to decide anything. The clock has two hands, after all; one for him, and one for the king.


End file.
